Improved car-cotjfiiiiigr



J. ELBERTSON.

Car Coupling.

Patented Nov. 10, 1868.

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.IOHN ELBERTSOMOF KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR'IO HIM- SELF AND JESSE L. CONNER, OF SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent 'No. 83,945, dated November 10, 1868.

IMPROVED cAR-coUPLmG.

The Schedule referred to in'these Letters Patent and making part ofthe same.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J OHN Ennnn'rsos, of Kirksv'ille, in the county of Adair, and State'of Missouri, has inventeda new and valuable Improvement in Gar-Couplers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1, of the drawings, is a representation of a plan view of my car-coupler, with a part of the top removed;

Figure 2 is a sectional view; and

Figures 3 and 4 are details.

The object of my invention is to provide, for the use of railroad-operators, better means thanhare heretofore been devised, for coupling and uncoupling cars, my invention being of that class in which cars are coupled and uncoupled without obliging the operator to leave the platform. My invention also includes novel means for coupling cars to the locomotive on the cow-catcher end, so adjusted and arranged that such cars may be pulled or pushed, as the operator may desire.

I The letter A, of the drawings, represents the bottom of a car.

Lett'er B is the cow-catcher 'of a locomotive.

Letter 0 is the bumper, and

Letter D is an upright plate, through which the rear end of the bumper passes, and in which it is held and supported.

Letters E are coiled springs around the bumper, adjusted, one on each side of plate I), as shown.

The letter F is a lever adjusted immediately over the bumper, as shown. Its rear end rests in an opening in the plate I), while its front end is'turned downward, in the shape of a hook, passing into and through the front eud of the bumper, and in which it holds the coupling link, as hereinafter mentioned.

' Letter (1 is a spring adjusted in the manner represented, the oflice of which is to aid in regulating the movements of the lever F.

Letter G is a spring, extending across the rails of the. car-bottom, and fastened to the inner rails in the manner shown.

1 Letter H is a circular bar attached to the lever F, in the manner shown, and- Letter 0 is a guide to said lever, attached to the bumper. I

The letter I is an elbow-lever, having its upright extending above the platform of the car in such manner as to be accessible to the hand by which it is operated. The lower bar extends across the lower side of the carbottom, and is held therein by suitable staples. Two arms, marked (1, attached to the said lower bar, extend forward, at a'snitable angle with the upright part of the lever, to a point forward of the circular bar H, and

resting, and rotating in staples, on the bottom of the car. The front ends of the arms of lever I, marked 11, rest upon this lower bar, when not forced upward.

Letter 41 is a plate, serving as an arm, firmly attached to the lower bar last mentioned, which serves, when actuated by the upright, to raise or lower the bumper that rests thereon. v

The letter P is a sliding bar, that rests and is moved in a groove cut in the inside of the outer slat of the car-bottom, and having a front bar attached thereto in the form of a T, which, when not in use, is suspended in a hook, as shown, at 19.

Letter '1' is a spring adjusted upon the bar P, the rear end of which is made in the form of a hook or pin, that, when pressed downward, passes through said bar.

Letters 3 are pins arranged upon said bar P, at the points represented, the front one of which works against the upright of lever I, and the rear one operating as a stop against the rear side of springG. I out a mortise in the rear end of bar 1, forming shoulders at each end, between which the spring Grests: I place a sliding bar,'P, on each side of the car-bottom.

Letter u is the link with which the cars are united.

Letters 'v are, dogs attached to the uprights of levers I and K, respectively, in the manner shown, and they work upon and infthe ratchet-plates marked 0, as represented.

The above constitute the main features of my coupler proper, as ordinarily constructed, but I sometimes pre fer to change the relative position of some of the devices, and in this specification I do not desire to limit myself to an adjustment of the various devices in the exact positions shown herein. As, for instance, with lever 1, instead of placing the upright in the rear of thearms d, I sometimes place said upright forward of said arms, and thereby produce the same result by a reverse action. I sometimes, also, prefer to place the spring G upon the bed of the car-bottom, instead 0 upon the slats, as it appears in the drawings. My coupling proper is operated-as follows,namely: The operator, standing upon the. platform, adjusts the respective bumpers to each other, and the link, by means of the lever K, and the said link pressing against the hook of bar or lever F, raises the same upward until said hook drops into the link, and the cars'are united.

The cars are disconnected by means of the lever I, when desirable, but in case of running oil the track, provision is made for such disconnections, by means of the respective sliding bars P. Any two of these pressing against each other crowd the levers I backa, as represented on the drawings.

The link n is pivoted to the front end of the cowcatcher, as shown, and passes through the mortise of bar m, as before mentioned.

I adjust a Tatchet plate, f, on-the front end of the locomotive-bed, as shown, and attach a pawl, g, to the upright of lever L, in the same manner and of the same form as those connected with levers I and K,

hereinbefore described.

By means of these last-named devices I am enabled to connect a car with the locomotive in a manner at once easy and firm, the lever L always afl'ording means for lowering or raising the link a at will, and adjusting it to the height of the opening or mouth of the bumper of thecar What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The sliding bars P, with their springs r and pins 8, in combination with the spring G, lever K, and its attachments, herein described and shown, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. In combination with a bumper, having springs E attached thereto, as described, the plate D, lever F,

- guide 0,-bar H, springs h, and link n, constructed and arranged substantially as specified.

3. The lever L, withits ratchet and pawl, as described, bar m, and link at, when constructed, arranged, and operatinlg substantially as and for the purposes herein set ort In testimony that I claim the above, I have hereunto subscribed my name, in the pres'ence'of two witnesses.

Witnesses:

J. 0. SMITH, FRED. W. Dow.

JOHN EI/BERISON. v 

